Passenger train derails in India, killing 4

PATNA, India (AP) — A passenger train derailed early Wednesday in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, killing at least four people and injuring eight others, officials said.

The engine and 11 coaches of the Rajdhani Express train derailed near the Golden Ganj station near Chhapra town, said district administrator Kundan Kumar.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a lawmaker from Chhapra, said there were about 500 passengers on the train that was traveling from the capital, New Delhi, to Dibrugarh in the remote northeastern state of Assam.

Railway authorities and police were investigating whether the accident was caused by sabotage by Maoist rebels who are active in eastern and central India. The rebels had announced a general strike in Bihar on Wednesday.

"It's a very ghastly accident. It is very difficult to say whether it is sabotage or a derailment," Rudy said.

The rebels have been fighting the government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor.

Railway authorities have ordered an inquiry into the accident.

The Rajdhani Express is part of a network of fast trains connecting many Indian metropolitan cities and is immensely popular among travelers.

Railway accidents are common in India, which has one of the world's largest train networks and serves 23 million passengers a day. Most of the accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error.